Lauria, Dublin lead Classical past Salem

SALEM ? On the opening kickoff, the Salem High football team lost arguably its best player, Genrri Rosario, due to an injury. Things got better for the Witches after that, but not much.Micah Dublin ran for 240 yards and two touchdowns, Devin Crayton scored three times and Matt Lauria in his first start at quarterback threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Ajayli Booker to lead Classical to a 37-14 win over Salem, Friday night, at Bertram Field.The Rams (2-1) took command of the game when they scored a pair of touchdowns less than a minute apart late in the second quarter to turn a 4-point lead into a 25-8 lead at halftime.”That was really the turning point,” Classical coach Tim Phelps said, “We did some good things, we did some things that weren’t always good, but we came out of here with a win.”Substituting for Eli McConney, who is out indefinitely, Lauria, a sophomore, completed four of his 12 throws for 114 yards, with an interception. Lauria was backed by a strong running game, particularly from Dublin, who had six runs of more than 20 yards.Joel Nunez threw a pair of touchdown passes for Salem (0-3), for 57 yards to Taron Wigfall in the second quarter and for 8 yards to Victor Claudio in the third quarter. Rosario was hurt on the opening kickoff and returned later to the sidelines with his right arm in a sling. The Witches also lost running back Javier Robles to an apparent ankle injury in the fourth quarter.Classical wasted no time taking the lead. After Jakeel Brown returned the opening kickoff 35 yards to midfield, Dublin ran for 45 yards on the first play from scrimmage, and Crayton scored two plays later from one yard out.The Rams added their second score after an interception at their 33-yard line by Marcus Rivers. Lauria hit Ezekiel Ebieshuwa for 22 yards to set up a 20-yard scoring run for Dublin around left end to make the score 12-0 with 10:08 left in the first half.Salem got on the board with a big play, the 57-yard pass from Nunez to Wigfall, who appeared to be hemmed in but found a seam along the sideline and scored. Nunez rushed for two points and the Rams’ lead was cut to 12-8.The Rams answered immediately. After a 23-yard kickoff return by Booker to the Classical 46, Lauria hit Booker with a bubble screen to the left and he broke a couple of tackles before finding a seam down the sideline. Classical got the ball back when Crayton strip-sacked Nunez and the Rams recovered at the Witches’ 26. Dublin took a backward pass and sprinted 26 yards for his second score, and Chris Ciriaco’s extra point kick made the score 25-8 with 18.1 seconds left in the first half.”They did a good job of controlling the clock, but we came up with some big plays,” Phelps said.Salem opened the third quarter by marching 50 yards in seven plays for a touchdown to make the score 25-14, but Classical answered with a touchdown on its next drive. Dublin ran for 44 yards to set up four straight carries for Crayton, who blasted into the end zone from the 1-yard line.A 37-yard throw from Lauria to Booker moved the Rams into position for their last touchdown, a 2-yard run by Crayton with 17.8 seconds left in the third quarter.The Witches made it as far as Classical’s 4-yard line in the fourth quarter but Renzo Pappaterra helped turn back the threat with a quarterback sack, and then Rivera picked off a pass at the 2-yard line with 1:44 left in the game.